


From Ashes

by Jeyne_Isles



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2018-12-22 06:20:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11961519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jeyne_Isles/pseuds/Jeyne_Isles
Summary: When Lt. Kasumi Akagawa wakes up in Vault 111, the love of her life is dead and her son kidnapped. She sees no path for herself except one wrought in vengeance and justice.When Piper Wright envisioned her future, it didn't involve taking care of her ten year old sister alone in an unforgiving city and an even more unforgiving world.But that was the hand they were dealt. And God have mercy on the poor souls that dare cross them.





	1. Sanctuary

**Author's Note:**

> Standard Disclaimer: Don't own squat.  
> Disclaimer two: It's been a year and forever since I've written anything other than formal essays or screenplays, so criticism is appreciated and welcome.

_"I think this neighborhood will be perfect for us, don't you think?"_

_Kas is inclined to agree if it wasn't for the stares she feels on her back. But when Penelope turns around and smiles at her - the one that only seems to be reserved for her alone - Kas lets out a small smile in return._

_"I guess I can grow to love this place," Kas replies._

_Penelope walks the two steps it takes to wrap her arms around her wife's shoulders._

_"I'm sensing a but," Penelope whispers._

_Kas huffs a laugh, putting her arms around Penelope's waist. "I knew marrying a lawyer was going to be my undoing."_

_Penelope's smile grows smaller when she sees what's over Kas's shoulder. Kas cups her cheeks and directs her vision back to her own eyes._

_"It's fine, Nel," Kas mutters._

_"Racism is never fine, Kas."_

_Kas gives her an exasperrated look, "You know what I mean. I can handle myself against civilians."_

_"You shouldn't have to," Penelope says, "Not in your own home."_

_Kas smiles affectionately, standing on the tip of her toes to press a kiss on Penelope's forehead, "Why don't we go introduce ourselves?"_

_"Are you serious?"_

_Kas lightly squeezes Penelope's waist, "Sure. Isn't that what you would do? Charm anyone that doesn't like you into giving you their firstborn?"_

_Penelope chuckles, "You're ridiculous."_

_"And you, my love, underestimate yourself," Kas turns around to face the neighbors, getting joy out of their surprised and guilty expressions when she makes eye contact with them. "Besides," Kas mutters so only Penelope can hear, "I'm being deployed in a month, I'd rather not have to fight our neighbors too."_

_Penelope takes Kas's hand as they make their way to their closest neighbors, "Hi, how are you? We're going to be your new neighbors! I'm Penelope Akagawa and this is my wife, Lt. Kasumi Akagawa."_

* * *

Sanctuary Hills looks like shit.

The houses that once stood proud and pristine are now dilapidated or all out destroyed. The once green grass is now dry and brown. Her once okay neighbors are replaced by a group of armed and drugged people. But worst of all are the dead ones - in varying degrees of dismemberment - hanging from poles or rope around the neighborhood.

As if the giant roaches in the vault weren't bad enough.

She checks her borrowed gun and ammo, and clicks her tongue when she finds that she only has fifteen bullets left. She looks at the rowdy group in front of her, just as one of them shoots her 'friend' in the knee. The others start laughing over the screams. There is a lot of them and fifteen bullets isn't going to be enough. She could sneak her way through but she can't in good conscience leave these murderers here alive, but killing them proves difficult with her lack of ammunition, a silencer and a sharp weapon. It's a shame that the only other weapon in the vault was blunt. She would have made do with a screwdriver at this point.

A single person walks towards her hiding place carrying a large bucket - that judging by the smell is filled with their waste. They only have a rusted machete on their person from what she can see. Better than nothing, she supposes. Kas sneaks over to them, keeping her gun in her off hand, just in case. When she's close enough, she takes the machete from them and when they turn in surprise at being disarmed, Kas cuts their throat and slowly brings them to the ground so the corpse doesn't attract unwanted attention. Kas absently wipes the blood off the machete using their rags as she calculates her next step.

Nearby, two others start to question what's taking their friend so long. Kas takes a deep breath and starts sneaking her way to them.

This world may have taken her wife from her, but it's got another thing coming if it thinks it can take her son without a fight.

* * *

_The moonlight shines through the baby blue curtains, bathing the room in a soothing cool light. Dawn is only a few hours away, and Kas has a long day ahead of her but she could not bring herself to go back to bed. Not when she can be spending time with her newborn son instead._

_Shaun breathes in deep in his sleep, and Kas's heart grows. Her little boy is breathing, and she couldn't possibly love him more. He kicks out his leg and grunts, and Kas is immediately proven wrong. She can love him more. She lightly brushes the back of her finger against his cheek, her own cheeks hurting from all the smiling she's done since he was born two days ago._

_She withdraws her hand when she hears soft shuffling footsteps coming from the hallway. Even though both of them know that it's practically impossible to sneak up on Kas, she decides to give Penelope the illusion, and she doesn't acknowledge her presence until arms wrap around her neck and a cheek presses against dark brown hair._

_"He's going to be right here when you wake up, you know," Penelope whispers._

_"I know," Kas replies quietly, "But I couldn't sleep. He's right across the hall but he's still too far away."_

_Penelope laughs weakly, "You're such a sap."_

_"Can you blame me? We have the best son in the world," Kas brags, "Look at this kid! He's already a champ at breathing, and I'm betting he's dreaming about some neat stuff too."_

_Penelope nuzzles her face in Kas's hair to muffle her laugh._

_"God," Penelope composes herself, "I love you."_

_Kas holds her wife's arms with her unscarred hand. "I love you too."_

_Penelope pulls back, leaving a warm kiss on the top of Kas's head, "Come on, sweetie. Let's head on to bed."_

_Kas hesitates, looking longingly at her son. Penelope gently cups her chin to get her attention. She says softly, "You need your energy tomorrow. You know Dr. Filmore isn't going to take it easy on you."_

_Kas sighs, but doesn't argue. She takes one more look at Shaun and smiles at his peaceful face. "Sleep tight, little buddy," she whispers, brushing her finger against his cheek again, "Your mommies love you very much."_

_Penelope squeezes Kas's shoulder before wheeling her back into the master bedroom._

* * *

The sun is starting to set when Kas makes it back to the place that she once called home. She ignores the mess in the living room - already having an idea of what she may find based on what she saw in the other houses - and storms into Shaun's bedroom.

She stops at the doorway, and remembers that she's covered in other people's blood (never mind the fact that she can clearly see old and new bloodstains on the walls and the floor). She doesn't take another step and instead looks in. The toys are all but destroyed, the change table looks like someone decided to take it apart for spare parts but gave up eighty percent through. While the crib is still standing - undamaged save for the paint job - the same can't be said for the occupants. If Kas ever did wonder where the missing parts of the corpses hanging around outside were, she wouldn't be kept wondering for long.

Kas turns on her heels and leaves the godforsaken neighborhood once and for all.

There is absolutely nothing there for her anymore. Penelope's dead and Shaun's kidnapped. Right now, her number one priority is finding Shaun. She'll worry about everything else later. She doesn't want her son to spend another day without his mother if she can help it.

She walks across the broken bridge with a tunnel vision focus. If the rest of the world is filled with people that lack a moral compass, then she'll need a good gun. A silenced gun. And luckily, the Red Rocket next to the neighborhood was owned by a paranoid old veteran. So paranoid that he installed a weapon, armor, and a power armor modification and repair station in the garage. Kas only hopes that there are still some materials left to work with.

* * *

_"You're gonna kill it at the Veteran's Hall tonight, love."_

_Kas grins half heartedly at Penelope through the mirror. "I doubt it," she replies, "Public speaking isn't exactly my specialty."_

_"Hush," Penelope elbows Kas lightly, "After everything you went through, this should be a walk in a park. Scooch."_

_Kas moves aside to let her wife access the mirror and sink. "There's a difference between should be and is," Kas sighs, "I don't exactly want to be celebrated..."_

_Penelope shuts off the sink and faces Kas. Kas avoids making eye contact despite knowing that hiding anything from Penelope is futile._

_"It wasn't your fault," she whispers._

_Kas just smiles, but Penelope is having none of that._

_"Kas -"_

_Luckily for Kas, Shaun chose this exact moment to let his mothers know about his soiled diapers. Penelope sighs and glares at Kas._

_"We'll talk about this later." Penelope squeezes Kas's upper arm and heads to their son's nursery._

_Kas leans heavily against the sink. She - like every morning since she got back from Anchorage - keeps her eyes away from the mirror. Despite what Penelope believes, Kas is to blame for what happened. If she had been faster or smarter she wouldn't have lost the majority of her squad. She wouldn't have been sent home with half an arm and barely functional legs. She wouldn't have had to spend months relearning how to walk. She wouldn't have had to face her brother's widow and their ten year old daughter to tell them that he's never coming home._

_God. If she hadn't fucked up, she would be able to hold her son with two real arms and not with this cold imitation._

_The doorbell rings and Kas struggles to unclench her fingers. She takes a deep breath and lets it out._

_This is not the time, she chastises herself, push it aside._

_She pushes herself away from the sink and walks to the front door._

_"I got it," she calls back to her wife, her hand on the door knob._

_"Good morning! Vault-Tec calling!"_

* * *

Kas is at a loss. Dealing with the giant mole rats seemed simple enough (shoot them before they nibble off her ankles), but the dog that's sitting on his - his? she tilts her head to the side. Yup, definitely a he - hind legs panting at her is uncharacteristically friendly.

(A small voice in the back of her head reminds her that maybe the ones she met and who killed those people might not be indicative of the entire world's population. But - like all the small voices in everyone's heads - Kas ignores it.)

The dog barks and his tail starts thumping against the ground. Kas's lips twitch against her will.

"So," Kas starts, "You're not going to bite off my neck?"

The dog lays himself on the ground and whimpers, looking up at her. Kas blinks.

"Alright then," she mutters walking past the dog and into the station, "so long as we agree."

The dog trots after her happily.

It only takes her an hour to find the materials she needs to build a crude suppressor for her 10mm. It might not live up to her standards but she has a feeling that this world would tell her exactly where to shove those standards.

The sky outside suddenly turns a sickly green color, and the dog at her heels covers his head, whimpering. She isn't given much time to wonder before the Pip-boy at her wrist starts clicking.

Lightning strikes, and the clicking grows wilder.

"You have to be shitting the fuck out of me..."


	2. Busy, Busy, Busy.

Nat doesn't pout.

She's almost eleven, and people who are almost eleven don't pout, nevermind what their older sisters might say. Doc Crocker happily pulls out the needle he stuck in her arm, and pats her on her head. She cringes; she doesn't like needles or doctors.

"There's a good child," he hums, and Nat squirms away from him. Piper puts herself between Doc Crocker and Nat, smiling sweetly.

"Thanks, Doc," she says, "How much do we owe you?"

Nat's legs feel weak, and sound around her starts fading away. She reaches out for her sister's arm and holds onto her as tight as she can. It takes her a few tries to get a decent grip on the red trench coat. Stupid Rad storms are always ruining her days. Worst of all Piper doesn't even have to get the Rad-Away because she's older.

Piper kneels down in front of her and Nat blinks. Wasn't she still talking to the Doc? Piper's lips move as Nat looks over her shoulder. Doc Crocker is giving Nina's dad the needle too. But he's older than Piper and Piper didn't take -

A hand on her forehead derails her train of muddled thoughts. She blinks slowly at Piper again, and her sister smiles concerned.

"You okay there, Nat?"

Nat nods lethargically, "Tired."

Piper chuckles, relieved, "Come on then. Let's get you to bed, kiddo."

Nat nods lethargically and lets Piper guide her back home. She hopes Polly has some mole rat meat. Nat could really go for some cooked mole rat chunks...

Piper walks at a leisurely pace while keeping a close eye on her little sister. Thankfully, the Rad storm last night wasn't so bad otherwise Piper would have had to find someway to scrounge up enough caps for two doses of Rad-Away. As it so happens, Piper was barely able to afford Nat's. Maybe she can go take a look at Nick's cases and see if he needs his partner to help him out.

Being a reporter is all well and good and while the literate do keep them fed, they don't do much in terms of keeping the roof over their heads, or the radiation out of Nat's system. Lucky for her, the only real friend she has in this city isn't above refusing help every once in a while, and it's certainly a plus that Nick pays well.

Piper pushes open the door to Publick Occurrences and Nat takes the five steps necessary in order to face plant on the couch. She falls asleep almost immediately, and Piper - not wanting to disturb her - goes to Nat's nook hunting for a blanket. Normally, Piper wouldn't allow Nat to sleep on the ratty old couch, but she'll let it slide this time since Nat is too tired to go to her own bed.

(She tries to deny it, but deep down Piper knows that she'll never be able to refuse little Natalie. At least never for very long and especially if she pouts.)

She pulls the blanket from Nat's bed and inspects it. There are a few more holes in it since the last time she looked, and Piper estimates that it won't last her a month - and definitely not through the winter.

A new one would probably cost around twenty caps, Piper calculates, plus the cost of Rad-Away, food and rent. The total would be around...

Piper heads back into the living room. It is a lot more than she expected. Maybe she can put off buying a new blanket until later, if Nat gets too cold Piper will gladly share her bed and covers. She throws the blanket over her little sister, and makes sure there are no wayward limbs sticking out.

"I'll be right back, kiddo," Piper whispers brushing aside Nat's bangs. Nat shifts but doesn't wake up.

Piper adjusts the press cap on her head and makes the short trek from Publick Occurrences to Choice Chops. Piper might not be the best cook, but luckily for her Nat isn't one to complain.

(Piper suspects that it's because Nat has never tasted any one else's cooked meat before in order to compare. Piper also doesn't want to test that theory. Just in case it's true.)

"Hey, Polly," Piper smiles amicably, "How's it goin'?"

Polly grunts as she carves up what Piper assumes was a brahmin.

"Same old, same old," she replies, putting the knife aside, "What'll you be havin'?"

"Got any mole rat?"

"Sorry," Polly grimaces, "Just ran out. Closest I got is mongrel, if you're interested?"

Piper chews on her bottom lip. Mongrel is a bit pricier than mole rat, and after some quick calculations, Piper realizes that it may cost her more than just a few extra caps.

"I think we'll pass on that," Piper plays with the brim of her cap, "I'll be seein' ya."

"It's for your kid sister?" Polly asks.

"Yeah, Nat's a big fan of mole meat." 

"Tell you what," Polly starts, "You take the mongrel and I'll charge you for the mole rat."

"Oh, you don't-"

"Just take it, Piper. The kid could use a little bit more meat in her diet. And the loss of a few caps won't hurt me much."

Piper smiles, "Thanks, Polly."

"Yeah."

Polly goes into the back to get the meat, and Piper starts setting aside the required caps. It was awfully nice of Polly to offer her a discount. Piper has to remember to talk to Nat later, and see if she can impart some her technique. There is no other explanation on why Polly and Crocker are always giving Piper a discount when her sister is mentioned. She kind of hopes it's hereditary, it'll certainly make their way of life more stable if everything was slightly cheaper, that's for sure.

Polly comes back out with the raw meat wrapped in a bloodied cloth. Piper exchanges the caps for the meat, and thanks her. Polly just grunts and goes back to carving the meat on the table between them.

Piper leaves knowing that any conversation she would probably have with Polly - that doesn't involve the sale of meat products - would be one sided. She pushes open the door, and checks on Nat on her way to the corner she likes to call a kitchen (which in reality is just a table in the corner that they don't use for anything except food preparation). Nat doesn't stir and Piper smiles.

She starts to prepare the meat planning on getting it cooked and ready before Nat wakes up. She's always cranky when she's hungry and tired, and unfortunately, those two pretty much comprise the entire list of Rad-Away's side effects.

It takes her less than an hour to cook it, and since Nat's still asleep, Piper decides not to wake her up prematurely. She takes an old article that she wrote and scribbles a note on the side.

_Food's ready, I'm gonna be at Nick's. Love you, kiddo. Don't do anything I wouldn't do._

Piper tucks the note under Nat's fist, and kisses the top of her head before she makes her way to Valentine's Detective Agency. She mostly ignores the wary glances that are sent her way, since she knows that they're generally harmless if a bit apprehensive (while she'd like to claim that she wouldn't alienate reporters because of their job, there are days where she can't blame them for it. She _is_ the nosy reporter after all. Though, it would be nice if they were just a little more discreet about it).

Naturally, the door to Nick's office isn't locked, but Piper knocks twice before pushing the door open. Partly as a courtesy, and partly because she's convinced that Ellie and Nick have something going on between them and she doesn't want to walk in on any of that - even if they both denied having any feelings for the other person on four separate occasions.

Thankfully for Piper's innocent eyes, neither Nick nor Ellie are in any sort of compromising position, and their clothing seems to be in order.

Well, Ellie's is. Nick has always been unkempt.

"Hey, Nick. Hey, Ellie," Piper greets with a smile, "You got anything for me?"

"There's always a case, if you're up for it," Nick replies.

Ellie turns to him, "Or you can ask Piper."

"Ellie..."

Piper looks between the two, "Ask me what?"

"Don't worry about it," he says, he takes a folder from his desk and extends it to Piper, "Vadim reported Earl Sterling as missing a few days ago, and he has no clue on where he could be."

Ellie sighs and turns away from both of them, Piper frowns, "You're not working this case?"

Nick keeps his arm extended, "I'll be heading out of the city to follow up on a lead," he shrugs, "I figured with the Rad storm last night that you'd like to spend more time here with Nat. Make sure she's all right. Otherwise, I would've asked you to tag along."

"One day, you're going to get yourself killed," Ellie retorts. "It's not going to be today," Nick says, and he conveniently doesn't hear Ellie mutter "you don't know that" under her breath.

"You sure you'll be all right out there, Nick?" Piper asks. "Yeah, I'll be fine," he smiles, "You just find Earl. If you have any questions, Ellie can help."

Piper takes the folder from him, and Nick makes his way to the exit.

"Watch yourself out there," Ellie says.

Nick turns his head to her and smiles, "I always do."

_Yup. Definitely something there_.

He shuts the door behind him, and Ellie doesn't look away. Piper clears her throat, forcing Ellie to turn her attention to Piper. Ellie blushes, and Piper adds that on the list of "Ellie and Nick are so _together_ -together."

"So," Piper starts, sparing Ellie from any more embarrassment, "Do you think the Institute might be involved?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What if running a newspaper isn't enough to support the Wright sisters?


	3. Returning the Favor

In his youth, Blake Abernathy liked to think of himself as a good man, one who wouldn't stand for the injustices that happen around him. In his prime, Blake's father stood up to raiders and got a bullet between the eyes for his trouble. Very quickly, Blake learned that there was no justice in this world, and anyone that believes in it and tries to enforce it has a very short life.

His biggest regret was not passing on his knowledge to his daughter before it was too late.

Clarabell snorts, stomping her leg against the dirt. Blake pulls on her lead.

"Come on, girl," Blake soothes, "the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go back."

But he won't repeat the same mistake twice. He'll give the raiders whatever they want so long as they leave his family in peace. If the Minutemen weren't all but wiped out, he would have called them for help long ago, but as luck would have it he's on his own. The only thing he can do now is hope that the bastards that took his Mary get what they deserve someday.

As he's crossing the bridge to Sanctuary Hills, he notes the quiet and the absence of the guards. It is a little early in the morning, but they would still have guards set on the bridge to deter scavengers and to put the forceful ones down. The hairs on the back of Blake's neck stand on end, but he slowly walks through the ghost town regardless.

If this is what scavengers feel when they're exploring pre-war ruins, Blake is kind of glad he took up farming instead.

It doesn't take him long to find out what happened to the raiders. The dead bodies are a giveaway, and the still wet blood on the ground says that they didn't die that long ago.

Blake's decides not to look a gift brahmin in the mouths and searches for the body of the bastard that took his Mary from him. He finds Ack-Ack lying face down in one of the abandoned houses. He flips her over - trying to ignore her slit throat - and searches her pockets for Mary's locket. While he does find it, he also finds a pocketful of caps. He stops. Who would go through the trouble of clearing a raider camp just to leave the caps behind?

Suddenly, Blake doesn't feel so giddy. He stands as slowly as he can and backs out of the city pulling urgently on Clarabell's lead. The brahmin snorts in protest, but doesn't exactly have a choice in the matter.

He only starts to relax when he gets to the Red Rocket station, and Clarabell is thankful for that. She stomps her foot and nudges Blake's back with her right head.

"Sorry, girl. But I didn't like the feel of that place." The brahmin - being a brahmin - is having none of it. Honestly, all Clarabell wants is to go back home, and have the nice young human give her treats, but no. The old man wants her to carry heavy things and walk all the way to a different place just so they can turn back after he's seen some sleeping humans?

A mongrel barks behind them and Blake's shoulders shoot up to his ears. He scrambles to pull out his pipe rifle and turns to take aim at the mongrel. Luckily, his shot goes wide, and the dog drops to the ground.

Blake isn't given any time to process his actions nor that the mongrel that he took a shot at was in fact a rather familiar looking dog, when a blade's edge presses against his neck. Blake feels his skin break as the blade begins to be dragged across his neck. The dog barks and the blade stops. The dog growls and rushes Blake's assailant, tugging at the arm that isn't holding the blade. If Blake were more aware, he would have noted that the dog isn't attacking with his usual ferocity.

"Get off me," the woman behind him grunts and both the dog and Blake are shoved aside.

He turns to face the woman only to be greeted with a gun in his face. He raises both of his arms, dropping his rifle. Blake expected her to be a raider or a gunner, but he certainly didn't expect a vault dweller.

"Please," Blake tries to bargain with her, "I have supplies. Food and medicine. I-I'll give them to you, but please. Please, don't kill me."

The vault dweller blinks, and she slowly lowers her gun. The gun may be at her side, he notes, but it's still in her hand.

"What are you doing here?" Blake thanks God that she was able to be reasoned with, "I was delivering supplies to the group in Sanctuary. They promised to leave my family alone if we give them our food."

She walks around him and gives the now calm dog a wide berth.

"I don't think they'll be needing anything for a while."

The hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

"How do-" Blake swallows, "Did you...?"

"Kill them?" she asks, turning to face him. Well, Blake now knows where the dried blood on her vault suit came from, "I did. I imagine there wouldn't be any love lost between you then?"

"No," Blake replies quickly, "I'm glad those bastards got what's comin' to them."

He isn't sure what she saw while studying him, but her gunmetal grey eyes soften.

"Who did they take from you?"

He startles, not expecting that question. He looks down, tears start forming in the corner of his eyes as the sound of the gun shot, and Mary's lifeless body hitting the ground is brought to the forefront of his mind...

"My daughter," he says escaping the memory, "Mary. They -" he clenches his fists, "She was only twenty one and they shot her down, because she dared to stand up to them."

"I'm sorry for your loss," she says, genuinely meaning it, "I know what it's like to lose a child."

Blake looks up to find her looking over in the distance.

"...Was it raiders too?"

"If the people in Sanctuary are indicative of all raiders, then probably not," she replies, "I can't even begin to imagine what they would want an eight month old for," she turns to him and Blake can see her cold exterior breaking, "You live nearby, right? Did you see anything? I -" she pauses, "I don't have anything to go on..."

"No, I'm sorry," he says, sympathizing with her, "I didn't see anyone with a baby."

She lets out a long breath, and violently scratches the back of her head.

"Maybe someone in Diamond City can help you," he offers, "I hear they have a detective there."

"Where is the city?"

"It's soutwest of here, in the middle of old Downtown Boston. Why don't you come down to our farm first? We'll give you some food and clothes for the road."

"You're awfully trusting."

"I don't think you realize what exactly you've done for us. A bit of tato and some old clothes is the least we can do to repay you."

She stares at him before shrugging, "Sure. I can't exactly say no to help."

Blake smiles for the first time since his daughter's death, "That's great. Connie will be overjoyed when she hears what you've done for us. I didn't introduce myself, did I?"

The corner of her lips twitch, "Kind of hard to when I had a machete against your neck. Sorry about that."

"Blake Abernathy, it's a pleasure to meet you, despite the rocky start."

"Kas Akagawa. It's nice to meet you too."

* * *

The cow has two heads, and Kas is convinced that this is the weirdest thing she's seen yet.

Which head eats? And which one has the brain? Does the cow have two brains or is the left and right hemispheres separated into different heads? She has so many questions, and she doesn't even know where to begin, or even if she wants to know the answers. Maybe some things should just be left alone, like knowledge of irradiated cow biology and what canned meat is made from exactly. Some truths are just not worth it.

"You never seen a brahmin before?"

Kas takes her attention away from the two headed cow and looks at Lucy, Blake's youngest daughter. She forces a small smile, no reason to make the people who are feeding and housing her uncomfortable.

"Is it too obvious?"

Lucy giggles, "A bit."

At the corner of her eye, Kas sees Blake and his wife come out of their house. Kas braces herself, his wife, Connie, isn't her biggest fan. They split paths, Blake going to the cooking pot around the corner while Connie makes her way over to Kas and Lucy. Kas blinks in surprise when Connie stands in front of her, her expression softening.

"Blake's told me what you've done for us. We can't repay you for it, but we'll try."

"Thank you, ma'am," Kas says, "But you don't need to. I did what any decent person would've done in my place."

"Really?" Connie smiles slightly, "Maybe your vault has decent people left in it, but the Commonwealth is in short supply these days."

"What are the people in your vault like?" Lucy jumps in and then just as quickly backtracks, "Ah, sorry. I, uh, I know Vault-Tec was into some shady business with their vaults. If you don't want to talk about it, that's totally fine! And I should've first asked if I could ask and not just jump-"

"Lucy," Connie says, and Lucy stops her rambling.

"Wait," Kas frowns, "Vault-Tec ran experiments in _all_ of the vaults?"

"Yeah, Piper Wright - ah, she's a reporter for Publick Occurrences in Diamond City," Lucy starts, "She covered what Vault-Tec planned to do with the residents of Vault 114, and what Vault 81 was supposed to do but didn't," at Kas's lost expression, Lucy continues, "I think I still have the article somewhere if you want to read it. It'll probably make more sense to you than me trying to explain it."

"Yes, please," Kas adds as an afterthought, "If you don't mind."

"Not at all," Lucy turns around, "I'll go get it right now."

Once Lucy was out of earshot, Connie sighs, "That girl will talk your ear out, I'm warning you right now."

"It can't be that bad," Kas insists.

Oh, how wrong she was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What if the Sole Survivor doesn't meet Preston Garvey first?
> 
> And what if Piper's articles made it to all corners of the Commonwealth?


	4. Disappearing Act

Earl Sterling was a good person…

Piper stares at that sentence for a good while before erasing it.

Earl Sterling was many things to a lot of people…

Piper isn't fond of that sentence either. She leans back on her seat and breathes out a puff of smoke. Piper became a reporter to expose the truth in this world, to show the injustices and give the people the power to fight against it. She doesn't know why it didn't cross her mind that she'd end up writing obituaries too.

This is the worst part of her job, and one time she had to wade through radioactive waste to get a story. To be honest, she would pick meeting the Children of Atom over writing obituaries any day.

The front door is violently shut and Piper jumps in her seat, luckily the cigarette falls out of her mouth instead of down her gullet. Her hand grabs the 10mm pistol at her side on its own accord. Being a reporter hasn't made Piper a lot of friends, but it certainly made her quite a few enemies, and she won't let any of them stay very long in her home where Nat sleeps and eats.

"Pete Pembroke is the _worst!"_

Piper untangles her fingers from the gun and lets out all the tension that the sudden sound caused in a long exhale.

She hears Nat throw her back-pack across the living room and stomp her way to her nook. Piper stands and stretches her arms over her head. The obituaries can wait, Nat looks like she needs to vent.

"Hey, kiddo," Piper says, going down the stairs, "You wanna talk?”

* * *

 

A thirty-minute vent session, a box of mostly okay two hundred-year-old gumdrops and a hug from the self-proclaimed best big sister ever, and Nat finally calmed down enough to agree to a bowl of noodles.

Conversation shifts from Nat's disastrous day at the schoolhouse to the latest gossip in Diamond City. Piper - keeping in mind that Nat is ten and there are some things that children should never hear - makes a concerted attempt to keep the conversation away from adult content.

Takahashi places two noodle bowls in front of the Wright sisters, and their conversation takes a break while they stuff their face with delicious noodle soup. And it's because of the break in conversation that Piper notices that Mayor McDonough is seated in the middle of the bar partaking in his own fresh bowl of noodle soup.

Seeing him sitting there, chatting amicably with the other patrons around the bar (while completely ignoring the Wright sisters' presence, because of course he is) Piper can't help but think of what had happened almost six decades ago in that same exact location.

She stops eating, her bowl still half full. McDonough is a synth - Piper doesn't have concrete proof just yet but her gut has never been wrong before - and if he suddenly malfunctions or receives an order from the Institute, a lot of innocent people will be hurt. She slowly sets her fork down on the rim of her bowl, her appetite disappearing at the image that comes to mind. McDonough lets out a loud laugh and the crowd around him joins him. She can’t sit idly by when there’s a possibility of a dangerous synth in the city – one that is democratically chosen to represent them – the people have a right to know about the possible risk.

Piper frowns at her bowl. Publishing an article outright implying that McDonough is a synth without proper proof would be difficult. She would become a pariah and if her gut was wrong – however unlikely she thinks it would be – she would propagate undue panic.

_What if I do nothing and Nat gets hurt?_

“Are you going to finish that?”

Piper snaps back to the present, plastering a smile on her face as she faces her sister. Nat is looking up at her expectantly, her own bowl empty of noodles and soup: Piper would put down caps that Nat licked it clean when she wasn’t looking.

“Where do you put it all?” Piper teases, “I didn’t know my little sister is a bottomless pit.”

Nat puffs out her cheeks, “I’m a growing girl!”

“Yeah?” Piper chuckles pushing her bowl in front of her sister, “You’re not growing very much are you?”

Nat glares and pulls Piper’s bowl closer to her, “I’m grow _ing!_ Not grow _n!”_

“Oh, Natalie,” Piper sighs affectionately, ruffling her sister’s dark mop, “Never change.”

* * *

 

It is still pretty early when Piper and Nat get back to their home, and Piper sits a reluctant Nat down to finish up her assigned homework. Piper is tempted to offer Nat some help with her homework, but after she’s seen that it was math, Piper decides to leave before Nat asks and Piper embarrasses herself.

Piper makes her way to the Dugout Inn to see Vadim before she publishes Earl’s obituary – she tries not to think about the fact that she hasn’t even finished it yet. As she walks through the marketplace, most of the residents ignore her (and if Piper is honest, being ignored is much better than being glared at), and Piper tries not to take it personally. She opens the door to the Dugout Inn, and Vadim sees her first. This is going to suck…

“Piper!” he exclaims, raising his arms, “You find Earl?”

Piper takes her cap off her head, and his smile immediately falls. Piper walks to the bar, holding her cap close to her chest.

“Hey, Vadim…” she starts.

His brother, Yefim, noticing Vadim’s crestfallen expression, goes behind the bar in order to comfort him.

“What happened to Earl?”

She meets the Bobrov brother’s eyes, “There was an accident at the surgery clinic. Earl…didn't make it. I’m sorry.”

Vadim puts his head in his hands, “No, no…Not Earl. Earl was good man. He didn’t deserve this.”

“No one does, Vadim,” Piper replies.

“I-I need moment. Excuse me,” Vadim leaves, and Yefim stays behind the bar.

“Thank you for looking for him, Piper,” Yefim says, pulling out a small pouch from inside his jacket, “It’s not much, but here,” he passes her the pouch.

Piper blinks and raises a hand in refusal, “I can’t take that, Yefim.”

“Please,” he insists, not taking his hand back, “Vadim want you to have this.”

She hesitantly takes the pouch of caps from him and thanks him. Yefim nods and offers her a drink. Piper refuses, planning on stopping at Valentine’s Detective Agency before seeing if Eustace Hawthorne would mind being interviewed for an article about The Broken Mask incident. If she wasn’t mistaken, Eustace was the only one who was alive during the time. If she wasn’t then it will be one very awkward conversation.

Piper makes the short walk to Nick’s place, he wasn’t back from wherever he’s gone. But it’s only been a few days, and if Ellie isn’t that worried, then neither is Piper. (Besides, there’s no one in Diamond City – and maybe even out of the city – that knows what Nick’s capable of more than Ellie.)

“Hey,” Piper says playing with the brim of her cap, “I-uh…I found what happened to Earl Sterling.”

Ellie looks up from the files in front of her and meets Piper’s eyes.

“Nothing good, huh?”

Piper shakes her head, “He went to Doc Crocker to change his face, and uh, there was an accident. He didn’t make it, and the Doc killed himself when I found him.”

Ellie lets out a long breath, “…Does Vadim know?”

“I saw him first,” Piper pulls out the pouch, “He took it about as well as I expected. Yefim insisted on paying.”

She gives the pouch to Ellie, but she pushes it back to Piper.

“Keep it,” Ellie says, “You’ve earned it. In fact…”

Ellie pulls out a sizable pouch from the desk, “Nick told me to give you this after you finish up a case.”

Piper blinks at it, “That’s a lot of caps, Ellie.”

Ellie smiles, “Just take it, Piper.”

Piper does. With the amount of caps she got today, she can keep her sister fed for a month – barring any unforeseen medical emergencies – even if she didn’t sell a single paper for that entire month.

“Thank you,” Piper smiles, “Are there any other cases you want me to look at?”

“None at the moment,” Ellie says, “And I’m sure you have other things to do today still, so don’t let me keep you.”

“You know where to find me if anything crops up,” Piper says, “I’ll be seeing you.”

As Piper is turning around, she sees Ellie frown at the corner of her eye. She stops and looks at Ellie.

“Is…Is everything okay?”

Ellie is already shaking her head, “No. It’s just…” she sighs, “I don’t know.”

Piper frowns, worried, “Ellie?”

“I know that he’s fine, but I can’t help but feel that something has gone very wrong.”

Piper wants to point out that Nick’s only been gone for two days now, but if there is anyone in this city that understands gut feelings, it’s Piper Wright.

“I can head out tomorrow to find him,” Piper offers, “Do you know where the lead was?”

Ellie looks genuinely surprised, “I can’t ask you to do that.”

Piper grins lopsidedly, “Well it’s a good thing you didn’t,” her smile dims slightly, “Nick’s my friend too. If you think he might be in trouble, I can’t exactly rest easy knowing that.”

Ellie visibly swallows, before she relents.

“He was following Skinny Malone’s trail,” she starts, “The last hideout of his that Nick knew about was Vault One-Fourteen.”

“That’s not too far then,” Piper remarks, “Okay. I’ll head out first thing tomorrow morning. But, uh, watch Nat for me in the meantime, will ya?”

Ellie smiles, “Of course. I’ll even make sure she eats her veggies.”

Piper plays with the brim of her cap, “And that she does her homework too, please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What if Ellie asks Piper to rescue Nick instead?


	5. Intermission: The Abernathys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, but life sucks and here are two chapters (next one will be out very soon)
> 
> Personally, I'm not too fond of these chapters (and may edit them at a later date). Let me know what you guys think.

She wasn’t expecting to spend an extra day with the Abernathys, but she couldn’t in good conscience leave them unprotected, especially once word reaches the other raider groups that the raiders at Sanctuary Hills were dead. It’s been a while since she’s had to teach someone else how to properly hold and fire a gun – their aim wasn’t great (it was pretty bad) but at least they now _look_ like they know what they’re doing with it.

She knew it wasn’t going to be enough if they were accosted, and she managed to talk Blake and Connie into letting her build them some defensive turrets on the perimeter. She wasn’t expecting it to take as long as it did, but the farm was lacking in materials and the ‘quick trip’ to the Red Rocket took longer than expected (around three hours longer). By the time they – Lucy insisted on helping, and Kas wasn’t going to refuse the extra set of hands (and besides, she was good company when she was talking about anything _other_ than Piper Wright) – scavenged the gas station and built and calibrated the three turrets it was already after sundown. Connie insisted that she spend one more night at their farm. Lucy was especially excited when Kas agreed.

She wakes up hours later in a jerk. Her trembling hands cup her head as she tries to count. She manages to swallow back a sob. She isn’t as lucky with the next one; her hand slaps over her mouth, failing to cover the sound.

She pushes herself to her feet, and shakily leaves the house. She needs to breathe. She has to leave. She can’t. She can’t she can’t she _can’t –_

_Four—_

Her heart tries to break out of her chest. Her arm is burning again. She could hear her brother’s last screams as the fire consumed him. He’s loud. He’s so loud. But then suddenly he’s not. He’s not loud because he’s dead. He’s dead. Dead dead dead dead —

_Ten. Ele—_

She has to think. She has to focus. Penelope. Penelope, sweet, lovely Nel. She’ll help her. She can help her. She always knows what to do. She can make the pain go away.

_“I’m not giving you Shaun!”_

Her chest tightens, and she croaks painfully. But she’s not here. She’s not here, anymore. And neither is Shaun. She’s all alone. Her knees sting.

_Fifteen—_

She has to breathe. She needs to breathe. Why can’t she breathe? The haze clears and a pair of brown eyes appear in front of her. Her throat closes up and she blinks rapidly. The face smiles.

_Seventeen. There we go. Eighteen—_

Kas lets out a long exhale. She doesn’t look away from Lucy as she tries to match up their breathing.

“—Twenty. Twenty-One,” Lucy counts and grins once Kas is able to breathe on her own. She leans back on her calves, giving Kas a bit more space.

Kas swallows with great difficulty, but Lucy’s smile doesn’t waver.

“You feelin’ all right?”

Kas doesn’t trust herself to speak. She nods. Lucy stands, and Kas realizes that she’s on her knees. The young woman extends her hand to her.

“There’s still a few more hours before the sun comes up,” she starts, “You wanna try sleepin’?”

Kas shakes her head. Her demons are too close tonight.

Lucy is undeterred, “That’s okay. There’s a nice spot nearby if you wanna hang out there instead?”

Kas takes her hand and lets herself be led.

* * *

 

Lucy keeps a close eye on Kas as they sit watching the sunrise. A comfortable silence surrounds them, and Lucy doesn’t want to be the one to break it. Kas doesn’t look like she wants to break it either if her continuous silence is any indication. But that’s okay, Lucy thinks, they don’t know each other very well yet, and Kas looks like a person who’s seen things she can’t unsee. Hawthorne has the same look about him (though Lucy thinks that he manages to pull it off better than Kas. Mostly due to his ruggedly handsome features).

Kas lets out a long sigh and she stands up. Lucy tries to meet her eyes, but Kas doesn’t look away from the sunrise.

“We should head back before your parents wake up.”

Lucy pushes herself to her feet, and Kas turns around. Lucy bites her lip.

“Are you going to be ok?” Lucy asks.

Kas stops. To be honest, Lucy didn’t think Kas would have been able to hear her, but she hangs her head, and the fists at her side clench.

“I don’t know,” Kas whispers to the wind.

She continues walking away. Lucy, not knowing what else she can do, follows her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What if the Sole Survivor can build relationships with non-companion NPCs too?


	6. Woman in Red

Kas is starting to regret leaving the dog with the Abernathys for extra protection, especially when she gets overrun by a group of those flailing things. One of them nicks her arm and her Pip-Boy clicks in protest. She tries to swerve around another one, and she’s convinced that it would have worked if she were up against something that didn’t consider tossing itself at an adversary to be a valid form of attack. As it happens, Kas is thrown off balance and falls to the ground in a painful thud.

Luckily, she manages to roll away before the abomination falls on top of her. Unluckily, the abomination is now between her and her gun. She pulls out the machete from her pack while sidestepping another charging thing. She shoots out her arm, slicing quite deeply in its neck. The abomination falls to the ground, unmoving.

She isn’t given much time to process that the thing on the ground is dead before she narrowly dodges another one. They are too fast for her to keep dodging and with her only gun a ways from her, Kas doesn’t think she’d be able to last very long. She stumbles to her feet and runs in the direction of downtown Boston. If she can’t outrun them, then she at least hopes she can outmaneuver them in the rubble.

* * *

 

_She’s shoved quite harshly into the cell block, the officer behind her taking considerable joy in doing so. She stumbles and by the time she regains her balance and turns, the cell door is locked tight._

_“How long are you going to keep me here for?”_

_“Shut up,” the officer sneers._

_“I didn’t do anything,” Kas insists._

_“I said, shut up!” he bangs his baton against the bars, rattling it._

_Kas clenches her teeth, “I have the right to a phone call.”_

_“No, you don’t, commie bastard.”_

_The officer leaves her alone in the badly lit cell._

_“I’m Japanese-American, you dumb fuck.”_

_Kas runs her fingers through her hair and she kicks at the makeshift bed against the wall. Her foot throbs and she curses the guards for taking her heels because her fucking dignity wasn’t enough. Kas plops herself on the cot fighting back tears. Of all the days to be accosted by racist cops it had to be today. Penelope will never agree to a second date if this is how they were going to end. It’s a damn shame really, Kas fell for her and fell hard. Who wouldn’t? All anyone needs is two minutes with that woman and they’d sell their souls if it would make her smile, even for just a second._

_But seriously, who was she trying to kid? A first-generation Japanese immigrant like herself? What business does she have even associating with someone as refined as Penelope Brock, let alone trying to develop a relationship that went beyond friendship? She wishes she could forget all about the date, but she can’t. Even with the less than ideal ending, Kas doesn’t want to forget. The date with Penelope was the best date she’s had in her life, which is saying something about her dating history since she’s currently sitting in a jail cell, brooding._

_“Ma’am, you can’t go back there!”_

_Kas blinks as hurried heeled feet stomp over to her cell._

_“Miss!”_

_Kas finds herself standing when she catches sight of Penelope. Her breath hitches: she should find her attractive. Especially when it is directed at her. Penelope turns her glare at the officer behind her. She points a violent finger at Kas._

_“Let her out.”_

_The officer returns the glare, “I can’t do that.”_

_“Do you know who I am?”_

_The officer blinks, “Uh –“_

_“My father is General Steven Brock and he’s a good friend of the Commissioner,” Penelope starts and the officer’s face starts to pale, “If you don’t want to deal with the fallout, you_ will _let her out. Now.”_

* * *

 

Kas ducks into the nearest building, covering her mouth and nose to muffle her heavy breathing. While she did manage to lose the flailing things in the rubble, she stumbled into a group of green giants with guns. Luckily, they are as slow as they look, and she put enough distance between them to feel comfortable taking a breather.

She slides down the wall and moves her hand from her face after a few moments have passed. She finally takes in her surroundings and her breath hitches.

Precinct Eight.

* * *

 

_The December air bites into her bones despite the heavy coat she’s wearing. She pulls up her collar and stuffs her bare hands into her pockets. Penelope grumbles next to her as she pulls out a cigarette carton from her purse. Kas watches her from the corner of her eyes. Why is she back, and why did she help her?_

_Penelope’s lighter clicks empty several times, and Kas finds herself extending her lit lighter to her. Penelope blinks up at her._

_“Thanks,” Penelope says lighting her cigarette._

_Kas swallows and nods. Penelope takes a deep drag and lets it out in a long annoyed exhale. Kas wonders if Penelope is still here because she’s waiting for a ride and not because she wants to talk to her. Kas puts her lighter back into her pocket and hangs her head._

_“Thanks,” Kas mutters, “For, uh,” she clears her throat, “Back there.”_

_She feels Penelope turn to her, but Kas saves herself from the heartbreak and disappointment and doesn’t look at her face._

_“I don’t think it’s proper etiquette to leave your date in a prison cell.”_

_Kas frowns. Was that…a_ joke?

_A warm palm rubs against her upper arm and a warmer face enters her vision._

_“Did they hurt you?” Penelope asks._

_In her surprise, Kas blurts out, ‘Why do you care?”_

_Penelope blinks and Kas’s eyes widen in shock. She tries to take back the words, but Penelope doesn’t give her the chance._

_“I like you, Kas,” she states, matter-of-factly, “I like you a lot. And even with the shaky ending, I want to keep seeing you.”_

_Penelope, noticing that Kas’s facial expression hasn’t changed, becomes slightly uncertain._

_“That-that is,” Penelope clears her throat and avoids gunmetal eyes as a blush rises to her cheeks, “If you still want to see me.”_

_Kas can’t help but grin widely at her._

_“Yes!” Penelope startles at the call, and the blush that was on her cheeks transfers to Kas’s, “I mean, uh, yes. Yes, I like you – I’d like that. And you. Both. Um. Yes.”_

_Penelope stares at her as Kas turns a deeper red. She snorts. She tosses her cigarette into the street and her fingers clasp at the small of Kas’s back. Penelope presses her forehead against Kas’s, their breath mingles._

_“So, are you free next weekend?”_

* * *

 

Kas stands on the same spot she did around six years ago (though it’s probably close to two-hundred and six years ago). She tries to mentally recreate the Precinct but the rubble and constant noise pollution make it difficult to remember and mourn. Every second she spends in this post-war world makes her wish that she never made it out of the vault.

No. No, she doesn’t. Shaun is still out there somewhere. She has to find him. There’s no one in this world who would if she didn’t make it out of the vault.

She has to survive. For Shaun. After she finds him, then she’ll give herself time to properly mourn. She takes a deep breath. Diamond City. Blake said that someone there can help her. She just has to get there. Find the detective, and then find Shaun.

A low, breathy laugh starts up behind her, and Kas freezes.

“There you are, puny human.”

Kas slowly turns and is greeted by the three green giants and their hound. The giants are armed and armored, and Kas only has the rusted machete on her person. The dog starts charging at her, and the bald giants continue to laugh.

The hound tries to take a chunk off her leg, but Kas dodges at the last second and throws her machete at it. The giants are momentarily stupefied as their hound lets out its last whine. Kas takes advantage of their inactivity and jumps towards the hound’s corpse and takes cover inside the Precinct. She reaches for the machete and the giants – seeing Kas’s arm extended – completely decimate the hound’s corpse.

Machete in hand, Kas takes a quick second behind the wall to contemplate her situation. She has to move. If she stays, she’ll be flanked and killed. She might be able to handle one person – or being – with just a melee weapon, but as soon as she loses her element of surprise, Kas is done for.

She hears their guns stop firing, and their stomping feet approach. She only gets one chance at this. Her grip on the machete tightens in anticipation.

A shot is fired, and the green giants let out a sound of surprise. She doesn’t waste time and rounds the corner while they’re distracted. She sees one of the giants – the furthest away from her – on the ground with a bullet hole in its head before she drives her blade hilt-deep into the closest one’s neck. It gurgles and falls to its knees. Three more shots are fired before the last giant falls dead.

She sees a figure in red standing where the bullets came from, and Kas drops to the ground – leaving her machete in the giant – and picks up its crude rifle. She takes aim at the figure.

“Drop it,” Kas barks.

The woman in the red trench coat doesn’t. She keeps her 10mm Pistol in hand as she stares Kas down.

“Easy now,” the woman in red says, “If I wanted you dead, I’d have let the Super Mutants have you.”

It’s only thanks to her training that the gun in Kas’s hands doesn’t shake.

“My name is Piper Wright,” the woman in red continues, “I don’t want to hurt you. And I know you don’t want to hurt me either. How about we put the guns down and talk like civilized folk?”

Kas blinks. Piper Wright? The reporter from Diamond City? She can tell her where the detective is. She has to. Kas lowers her gun and slowly stands. Piper Wright smiles softly, her gun still at her side, but not pointing at Kas either.

“There we go. Now—” Piper Wright starts.

“Where’s Diamond City?” Kas asks, desperately, “I need to speak to the detective there. It’s important.”

Piper Wright lets out a long sigh, “Ho, boy. Where to start?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What if the Sole Survivor doesn't meet Piper Wright at the gates of Diamond City?

**Author's Note:**

> What if Codsworth was never in Sanctuary Hills?


End file.
